My current situation: Finished my 2nd year at a 4 year university, currently taking summer school and starting to study for the LSAT. Im a Psychology and Social Behavior major. I only need 3 more classes to finish my major, my general education classes are complete, but I am still stuck here for two more years because I entered the school with no units and am still 60 units away from graduating.I know I dont want to take filler/bs/waste-of-time elective classes that will do nothing but boost my GPA, cause its a waste of money and time.My question is, should I pick up another major? Such as political science, urban studies, criminology and law society ( something that is related to social sciences/social ecology) or should I just pick up a minor such as English or philosophy? Will I be able to write that I minored in something on my law school app and will it make a difference? I cant pick up a major and a minor or I will have to stay 5 years.Your feedback is much appreciated!

Before I say anything realize that I am nothing more than an anonymous internet poster as is anyone else posting on this board or others so take everything you read with a grain of salt. With that said I have gone through law school myself so I might have some insight, but I could be a crazy homeless person who walked into a public library to post on internet boards about law school fantasies that never happened. I am giving you this disclaimer because I know there is a lot of "stuff" out there for any potential law student and just remember anyone can post anything about any subject on these boards.

With that disclaimer I offer you the following advice. If your really interested in going to law school then you should pick up the fluff classes. Honestly as far as law school admissions are concerned the numbers of your GPA are what matters not the substance. All law schools claim they review the soft factors, difficulty of major, etc. However, when schools are receiving 4,000+ applications they are just going with numbers that is the way it works. I imagine there is an exception out there, but adding a double major won't help your school admissions chances it might hurt them if it is a particularly difficult subject.

However, if your not completely set on law school then a double major may benefit you in your career, life, etc but in the limited arena of law school admissions adding fluff elective courses will likely increase your admissions chances and give you a great deal of scholarship money. While in undergrad I took a lot of flag football, volleyball, etc courses for fun and got A's. I was not intending on planning to law school when doing this, but these activities boosted my GPA and probably played a role in me getting 70,000 in law school merit scholarship money.

GPA is way more important than what majors you have, or how many you have. AdComms don't really care about that stuff. They primarily care about two things: LSAT and GPA. Assuming you are non-URM, those two factors will be about 95% determinant of where you go to law school.

GPA is very important, but then it is not just all about numbers. With the stiff competition nowadays in going to law school, AdComms are looking for something more, like a personal touch to your story. You have to highlight your potential and you have to do it quickly and efficiently. I have gone through the same thing and got the help I need at http://ivyresearch.com/law-school-personal-statement-essays.html.

cooley3L

Law Schools don't care about Majors, let alone Minors. Heck they don't even really care which undergrad you went to (as long as Regionally Accredited)

It may be a "soft" but they really only care about GPA and LSAT. You'd be better off with an Undeclared 4.0 at community college and a 170 lsat than you would with a 160 lsat and 3.0 in PreLaw from Harvard.

I wouldn't worry about minors at all. Just keep the lsat and GPA as high as you can.

You should take what you find interesting or useful for a career. The benefit a double major would add to your law school application is negligible, but the benefits of getting a higher GPA or taking some useful classes can't be understated.